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206 Mass. 488

Lanman v. Lanman

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided October 19, 1910

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1910-10-19

<p>Guardian. Infant. Trust. Contract, Validity. Probate Court.</p> <p>Where, after the termination of the period of guardianship of an infant by his coming of age, the property of the ward remains with his consent in the possession and under the management of the guardian, although the guardianship . has ceased as to the person of the ward, the trust is continued as to the property, and the guardian is bound to account for the property in the Probate Court.</p> <p>Where a mother is the guardian of her son, and upon his coming of age continues with his consent to hold his property in her possession and under her management, and thereafter the guardian and the ward make an agreement with each other that upon a payment by the guardian of a certain sum in cash and the acceptance by the ward of certain services to be rendered by her in the future all her indebtedness as guardian to her son as ward shall be considered as discharged, there is no reason why the agreement in the absence of fraud or deceit should not be held to be valid.</p> <p>Where a mother was the guardian of her son and after his coming of age con- • tinned with his consent to hold his property in her possession and under her management, and a valid agreement was made between them whereby the mother as guardian was discharged from all indebtedness to her son as ward, upon the filing of the final account of such guardian in the Probate Court, the guardian properly can be credited with so much of the items as show a fulfilment of the agreement, but she cannot be allowed to charge the ward with amounts of money, alleged to be due for services rendered by her to the ward,</p> <p>■ in excess of the amount of the trust property in her hands, because as to those transactions the relations of the parties are those of debtor and creditor, and the Probate Court has no jurisdiction over the collection of such debts.</p>

Relies on Douglass v. . Ferris · Green v. Gaskill · In re Allgier

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1910-10-19

How this case has been cited

Cited by 9 later decisions — most recently August 2004

9 state decisions

401910192019301940195019601970198019902000decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Braley, J.

¶1By the first account, which was rendered about a year before the respondent became of age, the expenditures were shown to have been largely in excess of the income received, *491and it was not until some thirty-one years later, after the death of the guardian, that the petitioner as her executor presented the second and final account of her guardianship. The first account not having been allowed, when the final account came in the entire administration of the estate was opened for revision. Bennett v. Pierce, 188 Mass. 186. But as the respondent took no exceptions to the order affirming the decree allowing the first account, the balance shown by that account as due the guardian must be deducted from the amount subsequently received from the sale of the ward’s real estate. If this is done, there evidently remained a very appreciable sum coming to the respondent when he attained his majority, and for which he then might have demanded a probate accounting. Brooks v. Brooks, 11 Cush. 18. Murray v. Wood, 144 Mass. 195. Green v. Gaskill, 175 Mass. 265, 269, and eases cited. The second account, however, having included a large number of items which accrued subsequently, the respondent now invokes the application of the general rule, that the settlement of accounts between a guardian and his minor ward covers only transactions during minority, and contends that consequently these charges should be disallowed for want of jurisdiction. Woodbury v. Hammond, 54 Maine, 332. Pyatt v. Pyatt, 1 Dick. 285. Leonard's appeal, 95 Penn. St. 196. Matter of Allgier, 65 Cal. 228. It was undoubtedly one of the conditions of the guardian’s bond that when her ward became of age she should settle her accounts and pay over or deliver whatever property or effects might remain in her possession or be due upon the settlement. Gen. Sts. c. 109, §§ 6, 16. Pub. Sts. c. 139, §§ 19, 22. R. L. c. 149, § 1, cl. 6. But, the money having remained with the consent of the ward in the guardian’s possession and management, she was bound to account for it, and, while as to his person the guardianship had ceased, the trust still continued as to the property. Moore v. Hazelton, 9 Allen, 102, 104. Ela v. Ela, 84 Maine, 423. Pyatt v. Pyatt, 1 Dick. 285. Douglass v. Ferris, 138 N. Y. 192. If the respondent, being of age, had released the guardian by an instrument under seal, the adjustment would have been valid unless it appeared that he had been overreached or that fraud had been practised upon him. Wade v. Lobdell, 4 Cush. 510. Moore v. Hazelton, 9 Allen, 102.

¶2*492We see no sufficient reason, therefore, why he could not enter into an agreement with his former guardian, that upon payment of a part in cash, and the acceptance of services to be rendered by her in the future, the indebtedness should be considered as discharged.

¶3If evidently the accountant sought not only to terminate the trust and to relieve the estate of the guardian and the sureties upon her bond from further liability, but also to charge the respondent with an amount largely in excess of the money retained, the relation between the testatrix and the respondent as to the transactions not included in the settlement was that of debtor and creditor which cannot be adjusted by a court of probate. Accordingly the guardian’s account can be credited with only such and so much of the items as show a fulfilment of the agreement, and the single justice, upon evidence not reported having been satisfied that this had been done, properly ruled that nothing remained due to the respondent.

¶4 Exceptions overruled.

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